Glimpse history through old images of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Midwestern state’s second most populous city.
Discover Historic Downtown
This is a nice trailer for a book called ‘Historic Photos of Fort Wayne’, which has text and captions by Scott M. Bushnell.
It’s packed with information and illustrated with many fascinating old pictures of Downtown streets and the people who lives and worked there.
Discover Downtown: Historic Fort Wayne – DTFW on YouTube
Fort Wayne in 1938
Enjoy seventeen minutes of silent but high quality black and white footage of Fort Wayne’s streets, landmarks, traffic and pedestrians recorded back in 1938, which includes:
- Court House
- Market Place
- Keenan Hotel
- Greyhouse Bus Depot
- Airport
- City Hall and Police HQ
- Telephone Company
- Filtration Plant
- International Harvester
- Central High School
- St Jude’s Catholic Church
- Japanese Gardens
- Reservoir Park
Fort Wayne, Indiana – 1938 – John Renz on YouTube
Early 60s Drive
One viewer spotted a 1960 Impala convertible, so this was probably recorded in the early 60s.
Most of the short film is a drive through Fort Wayne, although the very beginning and end show Kendallville too.
.1950s Drive Through Fort Wayne Indiana – Street Scenes – G Cast on YouTube
Fort Wayne in 1969
Discover the events happening in Fort Wayne in 1969, with a great selection of old photos from the year of the first moon landing.
Fort Wayne in 1969 – WANE 15 News on YouTube
March 1974
Raw tapes of filming Fort Wayne’s streets in March 1974 includes the interesting buildings and businesses on Calhoun and Broadway.
Fort Wayne Street Series: March 1974 – Access Fort Wayne on YouTube
Kennan Hotel Demolished 1974
The 13 story Keenan Hotel at Washington and Harrison was constructed in 1923, and demolished on 18 October 1974.
It had only just been remodelled in 1972, but fires in 1969 and 1974 led to several people being injured, highlighting its inappropriate layout for modern fire standards.
Demolition of the Keenan Hotel–Fort Wayne, IN – Allen County Public Library on YouTube